Church (building) – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For the space to perform acts of devotion, veneration, or religious study, see Place of worship.

A church building, often simply called a church, is a building used for religious activities particularly worship services. The term in its architectural sense is most often used by Christians to refer to their religious buildings but can be used by other religions. In traditional Christian architecture, the church is often arranged in the shape of a cross. When viewed from plan view the longest part of a cross is represented by the aisle and the junction of the cross is located at the altar area. Towers or domes are often added with the intention of directing the eye of the viewer towards the heavens and inspiring church visitors. Modern church buildings have a variety of architectural styles and layouts; many buildings that were designed for other purposes have now been converted for church use; and, similarly, many original church buildings have been put to other uses.

The first Christians were, like Jesus, Israelites resident in Roman Israel who worshiped on occasion in the Temple in Jerusalem and weekly in local synagogues. Temple worship was a ritual involving sacrifice, occasionally including the sacrifice of animals in atonement for sin, offered to the God of Israel. The New Testament includes many references to Jesus visiting the Temple, the first time as an infant with his parents, see Presentation of Jesus at the Temple. The early history of the synagogue is obscure, but it seems to be an institution developed for public Jewish worship during the Babylonian captivity when the Jews (and Jewish Proselytes) did not have access to a Temple (the First Temple having been destroyed c. 586 BC) for ritual sacrifice. Instead, they developed a daily and weekly service of readings from the Torah, and possibly also the Prophets, followed by commentary. This could be carried out in a house if the attendance was small enough, and in many towns of the Diaspora that was the case. In others, more elaborate architectural settings developed, sometimes by converting a house and sometimes by converting a previously public building. The minimum requirements seem to have been a meeting room with adequate seating, a case for the Torah scroll, and a raised platform for the reader.

Jesus himself participated in this sort of service as a reader and commentator (see Gospel of Luke 4:1624) and his followers probably remained worshipers in synagogues in some cities,[citation needed] for example the Cenacle in Jerusalem. However, following the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem in 70 AD, the new Christian movement and Rabbinic Judaism increasingly parted ways (see also List of events in early Christianity). The Church became overwhelmingly Gentile sometime in the 4th century, the era of Constantine I and Christianity and the later setting up of a state church of the Roman Empire.

The Syrian city of Dura-Europos on the West bank of the Euphrates was an outpost town between the Roman and Parthian empires. During a siege by Parthian troops in AD 257, the buildings in the outermost blocks of the city grid were partially destroyed and filled with rubble to reinforce the city wall. Thus were preserved and securely dated an early decorated church and a synagogue decorated with extensive wall paintings. Both had been converted from earlier private buildings.

The Dura-Europos church from 235 AD has a special room dedicated for baptisms with a large baptismal font.

In Greek, the adjective kyriak-s/-/-n means "belonging, or pertaining, to a Krios" ("Lord"), and the usage was adopted by early Christians of the Eastern Mediterranean with regard to anything pertaining to the Lord Jesus Christ: hence "Kyriaks okos" ("house of the Lord", church), "Kyriak" ("[the day] of the Lord", i.e. Sunday), or "Kyriak proseukh" (the "Lord's prayer").

In standard Greek usage, the older word "ecclesia" (, ekklesa, literally "assembly", "congregation", or the place where such a gathering occurs) was retained to signify both a specific edifice of Christian worship (a "church"), and the overall community of the faithful (the "Church"). This usage was also retained in Latin and the languages derived from Latin (e.g. French glise, Italian chiesa, Spanish iglesia, Portuguese igreja, etc.), as well as in the Celtic languages (Welsh eglwys, Irish eaglais, Breton iliz, etc.).

In the Germanic and some Slavic languages, the word kyriak-s/-/-n was adopted instead and derivatives formed thereof. In Old English the sequence of derivation started as "cirice" (Ki-ri-keh), then "churche" (kerke), and eventually "church" in its traditional pronunciation. German Kirche, Scottish kirk, Russian tserkov, etc., are all similarly derived.

The earliest identified Christian house church is the Dura-Europos church, founded between 233 and 256.

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Church (building) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia